The Life of Enoch

Introduction to Enoch's Life and the Three Biblical References

0:00 Now, will you follow, please, in your Bibles as I read the three broad strokes which God the Holy Spirit has given us to paint for us a portrait, or perhaps more accurately, a mini-mural of the life of Enoch the seventh from Adam. First of all, Genesis chapter 5, verses 21 through 24. Genesis chapter 5, beginning with verse 21.

0:37 And Enoch lived sixty and five years, and begat Methuselah. And Enoch walked with God, after he begat Methuselah, three hundred years, and begat sons and daughters. And all the days of Enoch were three hundred sixty. Sixty and five years. And Enoch walked with God, and he was not, for God took him.

1:06 And then way over to the book of Hebrews, Hebrews 11. We have the second broad stroke that fills in the portrait, or the mini-mural, of the man Enoch. And in Hebrews chapter 11, we read in verse 5, By faith Enoch was translated, that he should not see death. And he was not found, because God translated him.

1:44 For he hath had witness borne to him, that before his translation he had been well-pleasing unto God. And without faith it is impossible to be well-pleasing unto God. For he that cometh to God...

2:02 ...must believe that he is, and that he is a rewarder of them that seek after him.

2:11 And then over to the book of Jude, the epistle of Jude, the last little epistle before the book of the Revelation, verses 14 and 15. Jude, verse 14. And to these also Enoch, the seventh from Adam, prophesied, saying, And to these also Enoch, the seventh from Adam, prophesied, saying, And to these also Enoch, the seventh from Adam, prophesied, saying, Behold, the Lord came with ten thousand of his holy ones to execute judgment upon all, and to convict all the ungodly of their works of ungodliness which they have ungodly wrought, and of all the hard things which ungodly sinners have spoken against him. Now I have read in your hearing all that the Bible tells us in explicit terms, Now I have read in your hearing all that the Bible tells us in explicit terms, Now I have read in your hearing all that the Bible tells us in explicit terms, in explicit references to the life, ministry, and exodus of the man named Enoch. And all of this biblical data falls very naturally into three categories. Enoch, the man who walked with God.

3:28 Enoch, the man who witnessed for God. And Enoch, the man who went with God. And Enoch, the man who went to God. Enoch walked with God for God and went to God.

The Triangular Hermeneutical Frame: Genesis 3:15

3:47 And in the subsequent morning sessions, God willing, we shall examine his life under these three categories. However, I want to explain to you this morning why I am dealing with the life of Enoch as I proposed to deal with it, However, I want to explain to you this morning why I am dealing with the life of Enoch as I proposed to deal with it, and to set forth some biblical perspectives which not only are operative in our study of the life of Enoch, and to set forth some biblical perspectives which not only are operative in our study of the life of Enoch, and to set forth some biblical perspectives which not only are operative in our study of the life of Enoch, and to set forth some biblical perspectives which not only are operative in our study of the life of Enoch, and to set forth some biblical perspectives which not only are operative in our study of the life of Enoch, and to set forth some biblical perspectives which not only are operative in our study of the life of Enoch, and to set forth some biblical perspectives which not only are operative in our study of the life of Enoch, and to set forth some biblical perspectives which not only are operative in our study of the life of Enoch, to bring to our study of biblical history in general and biblical biography in particular. If Enoch's life is a divinely painted portrait of the man Enoch, or more accurately, a mini-mural, the first frame of which the artist draws the eye with the lighting and shading upon his feet, the man who walked with God, the second frame in the mini-mural has the focus of all of the lines of perspective and light upon Enoch's mouth. He witnessed for God, and the third frame in the mural is a strange blank.

5:12 There's an empty space, and there are people, relatives, but in the place where Enoch once walked and talked, he walked. So whether we think of Enoch's life and ministry as set before us in these three portions of the Word of God as a single portrait with the various features of the face highlighted by the biblical record, or a mini-mural, that portrait or mural does not come to us in the scriptures merely tacked on the wall with a thumbtack, but rather it comes to us set as end. As any great work of art is usually set in a very special framework, and usually between the frame and the work of art, there is matting or a border. And what I want us to do today is to consider the frame and the matting or border within which the portrait of Enoch, or the mini-mural of Enoch, is set before us. But unlike many, most frames and matting of most works of art, which are either rectangular, some of them oval or a few circular, and some of them occasionally square,

6:36 ours is a triangular frame. And the life of Enoch, and the matting which is within the frame and sets forth something of the beauty and the glory, the challenge, the challenge of the life of this man is that to which I would direct your attention this morning in terms of three very fundamental, very elementary principles which, as I've already indicated, I trust you will find helpful, not only in the study of Enoch, so that when certain observations and applications and doctrines are extrapolated from the life of Enoch, I will carry your conscience that this is a proper handling of the word of God, that it is a proper handling of the word of God. First, biblical history and biography ought to be read, studied, and preached in the light of Genesis 3.15. Biblical history and biography ought always to be read, studied, and preached in the light of Genesis 3.15.

7:48 That's the first piece of wood on our triangular frame. That's the first side of the matting, or the framing.

8:00 The general setting of Genesis 3.15, I'm confident, is well known to all of you here this morning. Genesis 1 and 2 contain the account of God's work of creation, his creation of the heavens and of the earth, and all that is within the earth, culminating in his creation of man in his image. And then in chapter 3 of Genesis, we have the tragic account of man's defection from God.

8:34 Here we have the biblical record of the fall of humanity into sin through the activity of our first parents, Adam and Eve. And then beginning in verse 9 of Genesis 3, of God's activity in response to man's rebellion and defection from God. And all the way from verse 9 to the end of chapter 3, we have an account of God's intervention, God's response to man the sinner. And in this last section, we have the record of the seeking God who finds man the hiding creature, who deals with him both in judgment and in mercy, but who also deals with the serpent, who was the instrument of the devil himself, with whom he deals in judgment, unmixed with mercy. Now in verse 14, God is directly addressing the serpent. And the first thing he does is to pronounce a perpetual curse. Upon the serpent.

9:50 Look at the language of the text. And the Lord God said unto the serpent, Because thou hast done this, cursed art thou above all cattle, and above every beast of the field. Upon thy belly shalt thou go, and thus shalt thou eat all the days of thy life. Here is a judgment in the form of a curse upon the serpent, and there isn't a choice.

10:18 There is a thread of mercy in it, except perhaps if we would consider the very ongoing existence of the serpent and that malicious spirit who stands behind him and spoke through him, his being sustained in existence, if we could regard that a mercy, then apart from that it is judgment unmixed with mercy. But then in verse 15, still speaking to the serpent, still speaking in a context of judgment and maldiction, he says, And I will put enmity between thee and the woman, and between thy seed and her seed, he shall bruise thy head, and thou shalt bruise his heel. Then in verse 16, God directs his words specifically to the woman, and unto the woman, he said. So it is in the context of God's dealings with the serpent, in pronouncing a curse upon the serpent, that God enfolds this first ray of gospel light and hope. God has buried the diamond of this marvelous promise

11:41 amidst this horrible curse pronounced upon the serpent. Amen. Having heard a sermon by Professor Murray a number of years ago on this text, the outline has forever embedded itself in my mind. And once you hear it with me, you'll agree that that's the most natural way to conceive of the text.

12:04 The first thing that God says is that word in which enmity is injected. Look at the language of the text. God says to the serpent, I will put enmity between you, you and the woman, between your seed and her seed. Mankind in Adam had aligned itself with the serpent.

12:32 Mankind that was made in alignment with God, in loving fellowship and communion with God, to do the will of God and to bring glory to God, through their sin, Adam and Eve had now aligned themselves with God. The serpent. They had given themselves over to the will of the devil. And had God not intervened, that's all there would have been of Adam and Eve and their subsequent progeny.

13:04 But God comes in grace and says, I will inject enmity. I will break up this fiendish alignment between man, my creature, and you, the serpent. Enmity. It is injected.

13:22 But it is injected not only to be a curse upon the serpent, but in order to be the very means of deliverance for the man and for the woman. So enmity is injected. But then secondly, God indicates there will be enmity perpetuated. Not only does he say, I'll put enmity between thee, the serpent and the woman, but, but between thy seed, your progeny, and her seed.

13:57 Now obviously as the promise unfolds, all of the seed comes from the woman in the sense that the seed of the serpent will be human beings, as well as the seed of the woman. But God is here saying that that enmity injected that breaks up this alignment of mankind with the serpent is an enmity that will be perpetuated in successive generations. What is begun as near enmity between the serpent and the woman is to be perpetuated through the seed of the serpent and the seed of the woman. And therefore as we read the subsequent history that comes to us in the Bible, and the various biographies that come to us in the Bible, we should always be looking for what God is doing in the perpetuation of this enmity. If God has said that there will be a seed of the serpent that will be at enmity with the seed of the woman, and a seed of the woman at enmity with the seed of the serpent, we should expect in biblical history, which is a great bulk of our Bibles, and in biblical biography, which also constitutes a large bulk of biblical data,

15:24 that these seeds will be seen before our eyes. And therefore, as we embark upon the study of the life of Enoch, we must keep in mind that this enmity is to be perpetuated. And according to Revelation 12 and verse 17, it will be perpetuated, right? Down until the end of time.

15:50 For in language that obviously is drawn from this very text, Revelation 12, 17 tells us, And the dragon waxed wroth with the woman, and went away to make war with the rest of the seed. And who are they? That keep the commandments of God, and that hold to the testimony, of Jesus. So that down to the end, this enmity is to be perpetuated between the two seeds.

16:27 But not only is their enmity injected, I will put enmity, enmity perpetuated, thy seed, her seed, but thirdly, the enmity consummated. Look at the language. He shall bruise thy head, and, and thou shalt bruise his heel. The enmity will be ultimately consummated when the head of the serpent, the most vital part in the serpent, when you wish to kill a serpent, you don't throw a rock on its tail.

17:06 You don't take a knife and chop off the last six inches of its tail. You put a bullet through its head, you chop off its head, and so the imagery is of the seed of the woman that shall bruise, or crush the very head of the serpent, will bring to naught all of his nefarious and wicked activity. But in the process, the serpent, notice, not his seed, but this serpent himself, thou, thou shall bruise his heel. The consummation brings us back from a seed generic to a seed specific.

17:44 He, not they, but he shall bruise thy head. One who comes out of the seed of the woman generically, such a one will utterly crush the head of the serpent, but in the process, his heel, a part of him, but not a vital organ, will be bruised in the process. And here then, in this opening language of God's curse upon the serpent, God infolds this marvelous gospel promise that he intends, intends to come in sheer sovereign grace and mercy and break up this alignment, and through the person of a singular seed, will ultimately crush the head of the serpent, though in the process, his heel will be bruised or crushed. So then, as we read biblical history and biblical biography, we are not reading merely, merely divinely inspired historical accounts of men and women, peoples and nations, wars and romance, containing true accounts of what actually happened in space-time history,

19:07 accounts bristling with moral and spiritual insights. There's something bigger going on. Every single player that comes in, every single player that comes upon the stage, every group that is found upon the stage to change the image, every single person in the great chorus of the sweep of humanity has something to do with this text. And as we read biblical history and biblical biography, we ought to seek to discern what God is doing to perpetuate the enmity, what God is doing, moving to the consummation that will result in the crushing of the serpent's head, and in the process, the bruising of the seed of the woman's heel. And therefore, as we come to open up the life of Enoch, we will see how the shadows and contours of this text are very clearly cast over the activities, the life, the ministry, the person of Enoch. In Enoch, we will see overtones of Genesis 3.15.

20:29 And I trust, then, in your subsequent reading of biblical biography and of biblical history, for I've said in our reading, as well as in our studying, and for those of us who are preachers in our preaching, we ought always to read, study, and preach history and biography in the light of Genesis 3.15. Then secondly, we come to the second angle in our triangular frame within which the portrait or mini-mural is found. I'm expressing this way.

The Triangular Hermeneutical Frame: 2 Timothy 3:14-17

21:10 Biblical history and biography ought to be read, studied, and preached in the light of 2 Timothy 3.14-17. Biblical biography and history ought to be read, studied, and preached in the light of 2 Timothy 3.14-17.

21:36 The Apostle Paul has just informed Timothy that his ministry will have to be carried on in a climate of increasingly hostile and unsympathetic attitudes to truth, to holiness, and to the people of God who embrace that truth and seek to walk in holiness. Notice verses 12 and 13 of 2 Timothy 3. Yea, and all that would live godly in Christ Jesus shall suffer persecution, but evil men and impostors shall wax worse, and worse, deceiving and being deceived. Well, in such a context, what is Timothy to do? Well, Paul now directs his words to Timothy and says, But, in spite of this hostile climate, in spite of this increasing hostility manifested in persecution upon the godly, impostors and evil men increasing in their influence, Timothy, abide, continue, in the things which you have learned and been assured of, knowing of whom you have learned them, and that from a babe, a breath-house, from a nursing babe, you have known the sacred writings, the holy scriptures,

23:03 which are able to make you wise unto salvation through faith which is in Christ Jesus. Timothy, while men are deceiving and being deceived, and while there is increasing opposition to all who in union with Christ would live a godly life, Timothy, continue in the things you have learned and been assured of. Particularly, Timothy, continue in your faith and confidence in the holy scriptures, which have this first and fundamental and primary function, Timothy, they are able to make you wise unto salvation through faith which is in Christ Jesus. Whatever these deceivers and deceived and impostors say, one thing they cannot do, they cannot bring, a message which brings a man to true deliverance from the guilt and the penalty and the power of his sin. As we heard last night, that is reserved to Christ and to Christ crucified alone. So Timothy, as long as you are a fallen son of Adam and a sinner, who by nature is liable to the flames of hell, Timothy, don't ever relinquish that great central thrust of the teaching of scripture that points you away from yourself and to Jesus Christ as the only Savior of sinners.

24:31 Timothy, never forget that from your mother and from your grandmother and from me, your spiritual tutor and others brought into your lives who are living monuments of the power of the salvation in Jesus Christ. Never forget and relinquish the things you've learned knowing of whom you have learned them and knowing what was the basis of that instruction. It was the scriptures which supremely point you away from yourself as a sinner to Jesus Christ as the only Savior of sinners. But then he says, Timothy, there is another function of scripture and for that reason you must continue the sacred writings. You must continue to cling to and feed upon and be regulated by those scriptures. Verse 16. All scripture is literally God-breathed and is also profitable.

25:35 You see, it's not only profitable to point you to the Lord Jesus and to faith as the way of appropriating Him and His salvation. That's the fundamental function of scripture and the starting place. But Timothy, it's not the terminal point. All scripture is God-breathed and also profitable for doctrine or teaching, for reproof, for correction, for instruction or training which is in righteousness that the man of God, that you, Timothy, man of God, servant of Christ, may be complete, furnished completely unto every good work. And what is Paul saying here? Well, the baseline is this, that Timothy is to regard the scriptures not only as the sure, certain, and exclusive deposit of truth that answers the great burning question, how can sinful man be right with God? And points him away from himself to the Lord Jesus.

26:51 It is scripture that is profitable for doctrine, for teaching, what we are to know about God and His ways, about His being Trinity in unity and unity in Trinity, about His Son, as much God as though He were not man, as much man as though He were not God. Joined in the one person, two distinct natures, but one person forever. All that we need to know about His death and His resurrection and about His relationship to His people, their union with Him by faith, so that when He died, they died, and He was buried, they were buried. When He was raised, they were raised. About His glorious coming, resurrection of the dead, and on from that to every facet of life, what is a father to do with his children, a husband in relation to his wife, wife to husband. Scripture is profitable for teaching.

27:54 Teaching concerning everything that a man needs to know to live to the glory of God. Now that doesn't mean scripture will give to the man who is called to be a mechanic, a knowledge of the ignition system of a 1994 Porsche. But scripture points him with its principles to those sources that he will use as gifts of God that he may, in obedience to scripture, whatever his hand finds to do, do with all his might as unto the Lord and not as unto man. And he'll seek to be the best mechanic and master all of the complex, computerized ignition systems. And it's scripture from which he gets his doctrine of the nobility of work. Scripture is profitable for teaching, but not only for teaching, concerning the whole expanse of what men need to know to please and honor God, to know and have fellowship with God, but for correction, that is to point out wrong. Put the finger on the raw nerve and pinch it until the conscience cries out to pinch the raw nerves of ethical abnormalities.

29:15 Scripture is given for that purpose, not only to make you wise unto salvation, but to teach, but also for pinching nerves, reproof, but then correction, letting loose the nerve and telling you how to get in a situation where that nerve won't need to be pinched again. Pointing out the wrong way and then saying here's the right way, and then as a general catch-all, it is profitable for child training, for discipline in the life of righteousness. Timothy, Scripture was just as surely given for those purposes as it was to make you wise through faith in Jesus Christ. Now, are these three strokes of the Holy Ghost that I've read in your hearing part of God-breathed Scripture? You say yes. What Moses wrote about Enoch in Genesis 5, what the writer to the Hebrews wrote about Enoch in Hebrews 11, and what Jude writes about Enoch in verses 14 and 15.

30:29 This is God-breathed Scripture. Therefore, I'm going to approach the study of the life of Enoch with the conviction that within those portions of Scripture there is doctrine, and you ought to approach it determined to inculcate that doctrine. There is reproof to become through this congregation and find raw nerves of ethical abnormality and to pinch them right on the end until all over this place there's ouch. And if there's no ouch, either the preacher's not doing his job or you've got a hard heart.

31:10 What are the ouch words of ethical abnormality and pinch? But God's no killjoy. He just likes to hear us saying ouch. He's located the sliver.

31:28 He dug it. Now he wants to pull it out and tell us how to avoid the bush where we got it. That's correction. Where'd you get that sliver?

31:37 You made the tears come down your eyes when Mom probed and then cut it out? Well, let's see. How can we make that path the next time and avoid that bush? That's correction.

31:48 Then there is training in righteousness. We're going to look at the life of Enoch as a man who becomes a powerful teacher of what it is to live a righteous life in an unrighteous age. Now is it proper for us to use the Word of God in that way? To take a biography and extract and confirm and illustrate and enforce doctrine?

32:15 To expose and reprove sin and error? To correct and point to the right ways of thought and action? To train in the way of practical godliness? I answer yes.

32:28 Absolutely. Scripture by divine intention is always to be read, studied and preached as to be instructive and monitory and ethically didactic. Handle that way. It's more breathed and profitable for doctrine.

32:55 It's to be instructive. Preaching that doesn't make you think and stretch your brain is not handling the Word of God right. But it's also to be a monitory. If it pinches no nerves, someone's broken off the end of the tweezers because the tweezers are embedded in the Word of God itself.

33:18 And it's to be hortatory. It is to encourage and direct into the right way and ethically didactic. It is to train in righteousness. Now people may sit here and say, well, Pastor Martin, why are you working up a sweat in a hot morning to labor to establish the obvious?

33:35 That's a good question. I've asked it of myself. Well, for the simple reason, and listen carefully, because I believe I have a responsibility that I have felt more keenly in the last few months than in any other period in my life. Particularly to the rising generation among us that will feel more and more the crosswinds of aberrant views of the Scripture and a host of other things.

34:05 There has been and there is in this present hour a group of people who would say that to take Bible history and biography and use it as the basis of teaching Christians how to live to warn and to instruct them is, quote, exemplary preaching. Preaching fit only for a Jewish synagogue. They would have sat here under my first side of the frame and jumped out of their seats and say, Hallelujah! No, they wouldn't say Hallelujah.

34:36 They're the type that's successive. But inwardly they might have a little twitch of joy and say, Ah, Pastor Martin has finally seen the light. He's going to preach and encourage others to read and study their Bibles and preach in the redemptive, historical, Christologically focused emphasis. Oh!

34:57 Now, as I've opened up the door to this second heading he said, He's backslidden right to where he was all along. You bet your boots I've, in your terms, maybe backslidden. You see, dear people, it is not enough. It is not enough to read biography and history and seek to discern what God is doing to fulfill that first gospel promise.

35:24 The enmity injected, being perpetuated, moving to the enmity consummated. We must seek to see what he is doing. Stand back in amazement and praise him and worship him and have our hopes strengthened that the enmity will ultimately be fully and perfectly consummated when the devil is cast into the lake of fire. But we must also take up those same scriptures in the light of 2 Timothy 3, verses 14 to 17 because the Bible itself tells us that such things are not to be taken up in the light of 2 Timothy 3, verses 14 to 17 because the Bible itself tells us that such things are not to be taken up in the light of 2 Timothy 3, verses 14 to 17 because the Bible itself tells us that such a use of Old Testament history and biography is not only permissible but is mandated. It is mandated. And I want you to look at a couple of texts with me quickly. First Corinthians, chapter 10.

Biblical Mandate for Exemplary Preaching: 1 Corinthians 10 and James 5

36:18 Remember what we're doing now is just setting the frame and the border for the life of Enoch. Side number 1. We must study, read, and preach history and biography in the light Side number two of the triangle, we must do the same in the light of 2 Timothy 3, 14 to 17. In 1 Corinthians 10, notice what the apostle says, verse 6.

36:45 Now these things, and the word these things refers to large blocks of Old Testament history giving the details of the wilderness wanderings of the children of Israel. These things were our examples to the intent that we should see Christ in the midst of all that is written. That is not what the Holy Ghost says through Paul. These things were our examples to the intent that we should not lust after evil things as they also lusted. Now, if we're properly. If we're properly reading segments of the wanderings of the children of Israel and beholding their sins we're to understand these things were written to this intent that we would try to God that we would avoid the sins which they so much indulged with a high hand. Verse 7, neither be ye idolaters as some of them.

37:58 As it is written, the people sat down to eat and drink, rose up to play. Neither let us commit fornication as some of them committed and fell in one day three and twenty thousand. Neither let us tempt the Lord as some of them made trial of him and perished by the serpents. Neither murmur ye as some of them murmured and perished by the destroyer.

38:22 These things happened unto them not by way of pointers to Christ, but they happened unto them by way of an example or figure. And they were to be destroyed. They were written for our admonition upon whom the ends of the ages are come. Wherefore, let him who thinks he stand take heed lest he fall.

38:47 I want to say something that may sound shocking on the surface. The most un-Christ-like thing to do is to try to make Christ the focus of a passage where Christ never intended that he should be the focus. The price we pay is an honest dealing with the word of God, yes. When a passage should be divine.

39:21 It is being misused, no matter how noble the motive may be. And God the Holy Ghost doesn't need our noble misuse of scripture to get his work done. What could be wrong? Ah, but you say, that's not an individual use in his example.

39:41 That's the nation of Israel, typologically pointing to the church, and the church is the bride and the body of Christ, and all right. Turn then to James 5.10. And what do we read in James?

39:55 Chapter 5 and verse 10. Suffering and of patience the prophets who spoke in the name of the Lord. He said, when you're reading the biography of prophets, see them as what? Pointers to Christ?

40:21 Actors in the great drama of redemption, fulfilling Genesis 3.15? Yes, but go beyond that and see them as examples of suffering and of patience. And then he focuses on the Bible.

40:35 He focuses upon Job, who is a great example of patient endurance under great and manifold trials. Now again, if the Holy Ghost says, take...

40:48 And when you read and study the life of Enoch, who was a prophet, he used to be an example to you. And when I preach the life of Enoch, I'm to engage in exemplary preaching, James tells me I must. And I take all the pseudo-spirituality of these who would say...

41:08 And I take all the pseudo-spirituality of these who would say... And I take all the pseudo-spirituality of these who would say...

41:10 These who would say... These who would say...

41:12 These who would say... These who would say...

41:17 These who would say... These who would say...

41:20 These who would say... These who would say...

41:22 And I trust you will as well. Because while I do not question the motives of a number of these men, I do know what happens in the churches where that view takes hold. It is generally associated with a spirit that wants no holy tweezers pinching nerves. People that want to be so taken up with Christ, that they never face their sin.

41:44 Husbands who can be... Husbands who can be...

41:46 and insensitive and self-centered and manifest no selfless self-giving love to their wives. Collective of Christ's love to the church in month out here in you. And that sin is never paid. Well, they say, isn't the love of Christ to His church marvelous?

42:08 Well, my friend, if you're truly feeding upon the magnitude and the glory and the inexplicable dimensions of the love of Christ to His church, you'd better spill over and make you a more loving husband to your wife.

42:23 And it won't happen automatically. Paul didn't think it would. He had to give explicit directive in ethical matters.

Christ as Speaker vs. Object in Scripture

42:34 We must understand that Christ is the subject speaking in all of Scripture. Follow me closely now. Glad to have you in this first morning hour.

42:44 In 1 Peter 1, 10 and 11, notice what Peter says. You just go from James 5 to 1 Peter 1. Concerning which salvation the prophets sought in salvation, the church diligently, who prophesied of the grace that should come to you, searching what time or manner of time, notice now, the Spirit of Christ, which was in them, did point unto, when it testified beforehand, the sufferings of Christ and the glories that should follow them. The Spirit of Christ was in the prophets when they spoke.

43:21 The Spirit of Christ was in the prophets and the biblical writers when they spoke. So Christ is always the subject speaking in all prophetic writings. He is the subject speaking, but he is not always the object directly spoken of. You see the difference?

43:45 He is always the speaker, but he is not the direct object of the speaking at all times. This morning, I am the subject speaking, but I preach not myself. I am not the object of my speaking. Christ is speaking in all of the scriptures.

44:06 And when he speaks by inspiring Moses to write the history of the wilderness wanderings, what is the object for which he spoke? We already found out from 1 Corinthians 11. It is not that we might be enamored with Christ, that we might be sickened by the sins of idolatry, the sins of tempting God, and take heed and seek to avoid those sins at any cost in the strength of Christ and by the power of Christ. But the focus of what Christ is speaking through the wilderness wanderings is not himself.

44:45 It is the horrible possibility of a privileged people despising their privileges and falling into the grossest sins. That is the object for which he speaks what he spoke in the wilderness wanderings. And when Christ speaking gives us the book of Job, what is one of the major purposes for which he gave us that book? That Job might be an example of patient endurance.

45:16 Yes, he suffered in the strength of God. And we know that that strength was proleptically applied to him in virtue of the work of Christ. Yes, I know that.

45:27 But the great focus of a proper handling of the life of Job should be one in which the people of God say there is a man who really suffered. And by the grace of God he endured. And we see the end of the Lord that he was gracious. And Christ is speaking a vital lesson about suffering and the end of a life of suffering.

45:49 And that is his message. And woe be unto us if we try to turn it backward and make it primarily a message about himself. You know what Christ would say? Look, look, look.

45:59 Take the message and make it speak explicitly about me. When I gave it through to you about avoiding fornication. And avoiding idolatry. And learning how to bear up under suffering.

46:16 You see, don't be wiser than Christ into thinking it's a more spiritual approach to see Christ in all of this. My friends, it's pseudo-spirituality. It is twisting the scriptures. And therefore, with a good conscience, I embark with you, God willing, tomorrow morning on this mini-mural or this portrait of this man, Enoch.

46:49 And we will see you tomorrow. We will indeed by God's enablement see him as an example of a number of things. And then pointing out those virtues, yes, point us to the one in union with whom those virtues can be known and experienced and nurtured. For without him we can do nothing.

47:08 We can only bring forth fruit as we abide in Christ and he in us. Yes, Christ must be brought in as the power to live up to the example of an Enoch. But Enoch, Enoch's example is to be taken at face value with the mandate of James. Take the prophets for an example.

The Triangular Hermeneutical Frame: Our Lord's Use of Scripture

47:31 But then we don't want a two-sided triangle. We've got a third side on the triangle in the frame within which we look at the mini-mural or portrait of Enoch. And it is this. Biblical history and biography ought to be read and all of you read your Bibles, I trust, studied and I hope you have periods where you not only read but study and some of us preach.

48:01 Biblical history ought to be read, studied and preached in the light of our Lord's use of biblical history and biography. Now if anyone should be a final authority on how to handle biblical history and biography, it is our great prophet, the Lord Jesus. You read the Bible and remember Peter quoting from Deuteronomy said in Acts chapter 3, the Lord God shall raise up a prophet like unto me, verse 22, to him shall you hearken in all things and it shall come to pass that whosoever shall not hearken unto this prophet shall be cut off from among the people. We embrace our Lord Jesus as our great prophet to teach us as well as our priest to forgive and intercede for us and our gracious, blessed King to reign over us. And I want to just give you a couple of specimen passages to, as it were, pique your interest and stir you up to read your Bibles in this light. How did the Lord Jesus use Old Testament biography in history? And if he used it that way as the great prophet of his church, he's telling his church how she is to use it.

49:19 Mark chapter 12. People had come with a question about the resurrection. And what will happen in the resurrection to the institution of marriage, particularly when God had required through Moses that strange custom that if a man died and had no progeny, that his brother was to marry his widow and seek to raise up seed to perpetuate his name. And so the Sadducees who denied bodily resurrection were not sure whether they denied the immortality of the soul.

49:54 There's some debate on that, but they did deny resurrection. Verse 18 of Mark chapter 12. The Sadducees who say there is no resurrection. So they said, man, we've got.

50:07 So they come with their scenario. Oh, Lord, there was among us a certain woman and she had a husband and he died, left no seed. And his brother. And I think there's a little touch of humor.

50:21 She went through seven of them and after that she died. After going through seven husbands, who were in any way hobnobbing with Pharaoh's Sadducees and was a blessed death.

50:33 Living with people who say no resurrection. Going through the death of one husband after another with no hope of resurrection. Her death was a blessed release. So they thought they had the Lord and they said, okay, verse 23, in the resurrection, whose wife shall she be of them?

50:52 We really got him now. Going to chop her up into seven pieces? God going to make her, what are you, call seven kids? Quintuplets is hard as I know how to go.

51:01 Septuplets? Is the Lord going to suddenly make seven of her? Identical in form and frame and look so they can all have her? They said, we really got him now.

51:12 Oh, we've got him now. I like to see whoever was their spokesman standing there pompously saying and the others behind their nose and what about that?

51:22 And did you see it? And how did the Lord answer? Listen to his answer. Jesus said unto them, is it not for this cause that you err that you know not the scriptures nor the power of God?

51:41 For when they shall rise from the dead, he then debated, he asserts it. When they shall rise from the dead, they neither marry nor are given in marriage but are as the angels in heaven. But as touching the dead that they are read, have you not read in the book of Moses in the place concerning the bush?

52:05 In Genesis, I'm sorry, Exodus chapter 3 of the burning bush? Surely you've read that biographical snippet when Moses is in the backside of a wilderness with his father-in-law, Jethro, and one day he sees an ordinary bush burning fire and yet the bush is not consumed. Surely you've read that account, have you not? Concerning the bush, how God spoke unto him saying, I am the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, the God of Jacob, three of the patriarchs who were dead at the time those words were spoken.

52:45 And he says, look, you should have extrapolated out of those words in that event. He is not the God of the dead but of the living. You do greatly err. He holds them accountable that they did not extrapolate out of that historical snippet and its details the fact that God, when he says, Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, who were Isaac and Jacob?

53:12 Not disembodied spirits that floated around for a time in the Middle East.

53:19 Body, soul, entities, human beings made in the image of God. Though fallen in Adam, they still have the integrity of a body, soul existence and God said, I am the,

53:32 if I'm the God of man is, doesn't rot in the grave?

53:39 And you should have been able to extrapolate that out of that historical incident. And he holds them culpable that they didn't do it.

53:49 You're as profitable for doctrine. Who would have ever thought Jesus would establish the doctrine of the resurrection from the incident of the burning bush? But he did. He did.

54:01 And he says, you erred a hundred times but you never stopped and asked yourself, what is God saying?

54:14 Furthermore, go back to Mark 2. And I'm watching my clock. I'm going to be done a quarter after. God helping us.

54:23 Those of us who come here are conscious that we are men under authority and we are glad to be. Mark, chapter 2, now notice what our Lord does. Verse 24. His disciples were hungry on a given Sabbath and so they grabbed a few heads of grain.

54:42 I remember out at the Mid-America conference on a road where I used to run and the grain had ripened and once I got over the casuistry of wondering whether I was stealing a man's grain, I wanted to see what that was actually like. So I took a few heads of ripened grain, rubbed them between my hands and blew the shucks off. And I tell you, you talk about a real health food mouthful. Of pure grain right out of the field.

55:06 I'd like to have busted some of my crowns and the rest too and that hard stuff. But I got some good roughage and it tasted good going down. Well, this is what the disciples were doing. Walking through the grain fields and they got hungry and the hungry man didn't fussy about his snack.

55:20 So they grabbed it and rubbed it,

55:23 put it down. But the Pharisees saw it and they said, Behold, why do they on the Sabbath day that which is not lawful? And he said unto them, Now look, did you never read? Did you never read?

55:34 The answer's in your Bible. What are you coming to me for? The answer's in your Bible. Did you never read what David did when he had need?

55:45 There's the key. When he had need and was hungry, he and they that were with him, how they entered into the house of God when Abiathar was high priest and ate the showbread which it is not lawful to eat save for the priest. The ordinary Levitical rule was that special bread that was there upon the table, the so-called showbread was not to be eaten by any but the priest. That was the ordinary Levitical directive so that men would not treat it as common bread.

56:15 It should be a means between men in either their starvation or their physical weakness that would leave their lives vulnerable to an untimely death. Surely God has no such concern for ceremonial detail that he'd let his servants on his mission starve rather than eat the special bread. Then he goes on to say, and he said unto them, the Sabbath was made for man and not man for the Sabbath. What's the point?

56:44 The point is that here is a historical incident from which our Lord extracts these great principles that strike at the very root of the legalistic mentality of the Pharisees with respect to their hundreds of Sabbath rules that had utter sight of the purpose of God in instituting the Sabbath. And as Lord of the Sabbath, Jesus doesn't abolish the Sabbath, but he strips away all the encrustments of Pharisaic legalism until the day stands out in its pristine beauty as a day made for man. He does it with a historical incident. He didn't turn them to Genesis 2 and say, have you not read that in the beginning God hallowed and said, have you not read? He takes a historical incident. He does it with a biography in Luke 17.32.

57:41 And he's pressing the matter of readiness and preparedness for the coming day of unusual judgment, whether 70 A.D. and the destruction of Jerusalem or that climactic coming and judgment at the second coming of our Lord Jesus. And he says, remember Lot's wife.

58:01 I would love to see what these guys say that Christ must be the explicit focus of every text, what they do with that one. How in the world you can get Christ out of a pillar of salt.

58:15 I'd love to see them dance a jig around that. Jesus said, remember Lot's wife. Think upon her. What are we to think about?

58:22 And because her heart never left it, she received the same judgment as those who were still in it. As they were consumed by fire and brimstone and Sodom and Gomorrah are buried in the Dead Sea. God is saying, remember Lot's wife. It isn't enough, men, women, kids, that externally you seem to be out of the Sodom culture.

58:51 It isn't enough that you seem to be in the company being that upon which God's judgment rests. If your heart's in Sodom,

59:04 it'll soon be made manifest.

59:08 Remember Lot's wife. Remember Lot's wife. Remember Lot's wife. Remember!

59:19 Take that little biographical snippet and meditate upon it until it sends you down to your knees saying, oh God, is my heart really like this? Do I really hate and abominate the things from which my parents have sought to protect me? Or do I secretly long for the day when I can have access to all the symphony of the so-called rock music of the day?

59:57 And do I long for the day when all the restraints that tell me I can't watch any movie I want in any circumstances with whomever I want when all of that is and I can sit and watch all of the rambo-like violence and all of the immoral passionate coupling like animals in heat when I can watch ask you young people is your heart in Sodom? Where's your heart? Where's your heart?

60:31 On the preaching? How about you guys? Girl watching? Where's your heart?

60:38 Where's your heart? In the Sodom that measures reality and how many bases you've covered with how many girls?

60:49 Where's your heart, guys? Come on now, get on this. Where's your heart? Where's your heart?

60:55 Remember!

61:01 An hour's coming. If you fool everyone else you won't fool God. And he won't turn you into a pillar of salt. He'll throw you into the lake of fire.

61:12 See what Jesus does with a little biographical sniffing? And he does that again and again.

Application of the Hermeneutical Framework to Enoch's Life

61:20 My time is just about gone and I want to use my final five minutes for some pointed application though I've made application all along. We're going to look at the book. The Life of Enoch. Fascinating life.

61:38 Very little data. It's as though the Holy Ghost came with a palette and just had a very limited number of colors. And he's painted that portrait with that part of his palette in Genesis, Hebrews, and Jude. But as we come to study this man's life let's study it with a view to seeing what is God doing to fulfill his ancient promise.

62:07 Where does Enoch live? Where does he fit in the great unfolding drama of the enmity perpetual? Is he part of the seed of the serpent or the seed of the woman? If so, how did he become the one and was he not the other?

62:23 And if indeed he were part of the seed of the woman, how does he conduct himself in an age that is beginning to escalate in its abounding wickedness up to the period of the flood when God says I've had it up to here and he blocks out the whole human race except one man and his family. See, that's why Enoch is so relevant to us.

62:47 What does it mean Enoch walked with God? What are we to learn of the lessons of the spiritual life of walking with God in communion with God? What are the means by which that communion is to be nurtured and manifested? We must not only read and study and I must preach the life of Enoch in the spirit in the light of Genesis 3.15 but in the light of 2 Timothy 3.16-17 there are some marvelous doctrines confirmed and illustrated in the life of Enoch. One of them is very obvious. One day everybody got up and Enoch one man he was gone.

63:27 Body and soul gone.

63:31 And as we'll see apparently they could not believe what had happened. He was not found the same terminology to use when they went out looking for Elijah after God took him up.

63:42 In an age of materialism and skepticism that denies anything beyond what can be seen and felt and touched God says I'll show you there's another whole world of reality into which I can take a man body and soul. And God confirms the marvelous doctrine of the resurrection and the ultimate glorification of the saints in the life of Enoch. So we're going to study his life in the light of Genesis 3.15 in the light of 2 Timothy chapter 3 and in the light of the principles illustrated in our Lord Jesus where he takes at times what seems to be little insignificant details out of biographical incidents and historical happenings and out of them constructs mighty arguments for the truth and against error. And I trust that having highlighted these principles that lay behind my preparation and that lie beneath the present approach to this man's life that this will be helpful not only in our study this week but in your ongoing reading studying of the word of God for I'm assuming every Christian does read and study his Bible and I hope for my dear preacher friends none of you will ever be bullied away from what God has

65:10 graciously given as one of the precious legacies in our fellowship and that is preaching that is determined not only to view the scripture in the light of Genesis 3.15 but determined to view it understand it and preach in the light of 2nd Timothy 3.16 and 17 and the principles illustrated in our Lord Jesus when he handled the scriptures I've been around to be bullied a lot longer than some of you don't ever be bullied from that ground glory in stand with the apostle and with the Lord Jesus and say if that's being vile say what David did when that wife of his got upset that he was dancing before the ark he says you ain't seen nothing yet I shall be yet more vile may God give us grace because God knows this is what our people need let us pray our father we are so thankful that we have your word as a lamp unto our feet and a light to our pathway and we thank you that your word is its own self interpreting light and its own authoritative

Prayer for Grace and Continued Study

66:38 expounder and as we have sought to let the light of scripture fall upon the scriptures relative to the life of Enoch and the life of any man woman boy or girl set before us in the scriptures oh Lord help us in our study of this fascinating man that we may indeed stand amazed at your ongoing work in the unfolding drama of redemption that we may feel the tweezers upon the raw nerves of moral and ethical abnormalities in our lives that we will be instructed in the way of righteousness confirmed in the great doctrines of our faith and oh like our Lord Jesus may we ever be looking for treasures old and new as we study these lives set before us in your holy word bless us as we seek to know your mind may your blessing continue upon us in this half hour of break Lord may our fellowship be sweet in Christ mutually edifying bless us renew our mental and spiritual faculties that as your servant comes in the next hour to address such crucial issues oh be with us and be with us with him and may the spirit himself descend upon us in power

68:07 we ask in Jesus name Amen